Barrel



9 our 2 1m m m nmb Oct. 18, 1938.

Patented Oct. 18, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Ahrbecker,

Cincinnati, Ohio,

assignors to Borg-Warner Corporation, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application February 18, 1935, Serial No. 6,968

1 Claim.

This invention relates to improvements in metal barrel construction.

More particularly, this invention relates to a barrel provided along its bottom beneath the tap hole with a non-corrosive protecting disc or plate.

In the tapping of beer barrels and the like, the tap rod is forced through the tap bush in the head of the barrel and dropped to the bottom of the barrel with considerable force. Metal barrels which are not provided with non-corrosive interiors are generally pitched or coated with a protective coating to prevent the contents of the barrel from rusting or corroding the metal walls of the barrel. When the tap rod strikes the bottom of the barrel, this coating is disturbed, and after several tappings the barrel walls are exposed to the contents of the barrel in the vicinity of the point where the tap rod strikes the bottom of the barrel.

We have now provided a construction which prevents the tap rod from uncovering a metal surface which is subject to rust or corrosion.

According to our invention, a disc or plate having a non-corrosive surface, or being composed entirely of non-corroding metal, is secured to the bottom of the barrel directly under the tap bush opening so that a tap rod inserted through the tap bush will contact the plate instead of the bottom wall of the barrel when allowed to drop into the barrel. This plate may be secured to the bottom wall of the barrel in any manner as will be more fully hereinafter described.

In the handling of metal barrels it is customary to stand the barrel on its head to prevent the same from rolling. However, most of the metal barrels are designed with a smooth chime and, in some occasions, the barrel will actually skid off of a platform or the like because the chime surface becomes slippery and will slide over the supporting platform or floor. We have therefore now provided raised bead or embossed portions in the chime of the barrel to act as anti-skid supports for the barrel. These embossed portions are preferably spaced from each other so as to define a non-contacting portion therebetween which does not contact the platform or floor.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a barrel structure having a non-corrosive protecting plate secured to the inner wall of the bottom of the barrel directly beneath the tap bush opening of the barrel.

A further object of this invention is to provide a barrel structure having a non-corrosive disc secured on the bottom of the barrel along the inner wall thereof to prevent a tap rod from damaging the barrel.

A further object of this invention is to provide a barrel structure having a non-skid chime.

Another object of this invention is to provide a barrel structurewith spaced embossed portions on the chimes thereof to prevent skidding.

A specific object of this invention is to providea metal barrel with an annular embossed depression along its bottom wall adapted to receive therein a non-corrosive disc.

Other and further objects of this inventionwill be apparent from the following description and the annexed sheet of-drawings which forms a part of this specification.

On the drawing:

Figurel is a broken side elevation, partly in vertical cross-section, of a barrel structure according to this invention.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of a barrel structure according to this invention showing one form of anti-skid beads embossed on the chime.

Figure 2a is a fragmentary plan view of a barrel structure according to this invention showing another form of anti-skid embossed beads on the chime.

Figure 2b is a fragmentary elevational view of the structure shown in Figure 2a.

Figure 3 is' a broken cross-sectional View taken substantially along the line III-III of Figure 1.

Figure 4 isan enlarged sectional view illustrating the manner in which the non-corrosive metal plate is secured in the bottom of the barrel along the inner wall thereof.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of a barrel structure having a protecting noncorrosive plate secured along the inner bottom Wall of the barrel according to another arrangement.

In Figure 1 the reference numeral I indicates generally a barrel construction according to this invention having an outer shell 2 surrounding the inner drum 3. 'I'hedrum 3 is cradled within the shell at the shoulders thereof as indicated at 4 and 5 respectively. This construction is more fully described and claimed in the copending application of R. C. Ingersoll and Stewart S. Battles Serial No. 687,570, filed August 31, 1933.

The outer jacket 2 is formed with a depressed head portion 6 defining an annular chime portion 1. Likewise the jacket 2 is depressed at the bottom as at 8 to define an annular chime portion 9. The top and bottom chimes 1 and 9 are embossed as indicated at 10 with a plurality of spaced arcuate beads more clearly shown in Figure 2. These beads or embossed portions HI along the chime rings act as anti-skid supports for the barrel.

Alternatively, other forms of beads or embossed portions may be formed on the chimes such as, for example, the spaced radially extending beads Illa shown in Figure 2a. These beads 0a extend radially inward from the outer periphery of the chimes I and 9 as shown in Figure 2a and also have vertical portions lBb extending along the sides of the chimes as shown in Figure 2b. This form of L shaped bead or corrugated fluting materially aids in reinforcing and stiffening the chimes as well as providing anti-skid supports for the barrel. The head 6 of the barrel is provided with a tap bush l l adapted to receive a tap I2 therethrough. The usual bayonet socket (not shown) is provided in the tap bush II. The tap device 12, as is customary, has a metal tube I3 extending into the barrel into contact with the bottom 14 of the inner drum 3. As shown at IS in Figures 1 and 4, the bottom 14 of the barrel is embossed to provide a well for the reception of a non-corrosive disc IS. The disc [6 'may be welded in the depressed portion {5 by an annular weld I! (Figure 4) extending around the periphery of the disc IS. The non-corrosive disc I6 is therefore positioned immediately below the rod 13 and when the rod l3 strikes the bottom of the barrel it cannot expose a corrosive portion by removing pitch or other protective coating from the inner surface of the drum ,3.

If -the disc 15 is exposed to the contents of the barrel no damage results because the disc is composed of a non-corrosive metal such as stainless steel or the like. It should be understood that the disc may be composed of a laminated metal having a stainless steel surface. Likewise the disc maybe pla'ted'with a non-corrosive metal.

The provision of a non-corrosive disc or a disc having a non-corrosive metal surface at a point in the barrel which is subject to scraping action which would normally remove the pitch or protective coating lining the inner walls of the barrel greatly prolongs the life of the barrel and permits constant reuse without frequent coating operations to cover the scratched or worn-away portions of the coating. Furthermore, the provision of a non-corrosive plate only at the point subject to the scraping action lowers the manufacturing cost of the barrel since it is not necessary to form the entire drum of a non-corrosive metal.

In Figure 5, the bottom M of the inner drum 3 is not embossed as shown in Figures 1 and 2 at I5 to provide a well for the non-corrosive disc I6. In this modification, the disc [6 is merely spotwelded to the ordinary fiat surface of the bottom M. The spot-welding may be along the bottom of the plate 16 or around the periphery of the plate l6 or both.

We are aware that many changes may be made and numerous details of construction may be varied through a wide range without departing from the principles of this invention, and we, therefore do not purpose limiting the patent granted hereon otherwise than necessitated by the prior art.

We claim as our invention:

A pitch-lined metal barrel having a bung hole for receiving a beer rod, a continuous wall within said barrel having a depression formed therein,

said depression being disposed opposite said bung hole, a stainless steel plate, said beer rod being adapted to reach to said depression where perfunctory manipulation thereof will cause the pitch-lining to be scuffed away, said plate being disposed within said depression and being of 'a thickness to cause the inner surface thereof to be substantially flush with the immediately surrounding inner surface of the barrel.

S'I'EWART S. BATTLES. HAROLD L. AHRBECKER. 

